Airship.



J. 0. SGHL'EICHER.

AIBSHIP. APPLIGATION FILED PEB.4, 1911.

Patented Nov. 4, 1913.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

J. c. SOHLBICHER.

AIRSHIP.

APPLICATION IILED FEBA, 1911.

Patented Nov. 4, 1913.

4 sann'rssnnm 2.

J. 0. SCHLEICHER.

AIRSHIP.

AIPLIOATION FILED 233.4, 1911.

Patented Nov. 4, 1913.

4 SHEETS-611E131. 4.

$5 Grim/14 213 TEZAJMW sTArns PAW OFFICE.

JDHN C(SCHLEIGHEB, OF MOUNT VERNON, NEW YORK.

a'msmr.

To all wiwm it may concern Be-it known that I,-Jo1m 0..SGHLE1GHIR,

a citizen of the United States of America, and resident of Mount Vernon,inthe county of Westchesterand State of New York,-have invented certainnew'and useful Improvements in Airships, of which the following isaspecification.

This invention relates to air ships and particularly to air ships of theaeroplane type.

d An object of this invention is t'o'prod'uce men shi having novel-meansfor controlling its direction of travel, the said means .be'ingon theside of the center ofgravity and'eontrollable from the seatof theoperator.

Furthermore an objectof this invention ia-to-provide, as a substitutefor the rudder and' tail now commonly employed, novel I planes at thefront and rear of the main planes, the said front and rear planes beingtiltable to control the =altitude of the machine andha'vi'ng ndv'elmeans for operating 26 or =-manipulating the said planes.

' Furthermore, an object of the invention is-to'mount the front and rearplanes in a novel manner'in order'that they will effect a-parachutedilreaction on the descent of the 80 machine and upon their release by thecontroller.

Furthermore, an object of this invention is to :provide means forchangingthe position ofthe o rotor with relation to the car 86 of the-machine,- thereby making it I ssible to accommodiite passengers and sopace the passengers and the operator as to equalize the weight oftheoccupants in order that the-oenter-of' avity will be properlypositioned' with rtfiiition to the planes.

- A further object of this invention is --to provide in-an air shi meansfor guiding the same, the said guiding means being seated .on each-sideof the longitudinal center and preferably well toward the ti of theplanes, the said means being furt er eflective to depress the plane onone side of the car.

A further object of this invention is-t0 rovide novel means forforming-and bra'clug-the lanes and for producin resistance at theesgesof the lanes whic will tend to right t e car or orce it to a horizontalposition upon its movement sidewise as in.

the act of descendingwith the edges of the 55 planes at anacute angle.

With the foregoing and other ob ects 1n Specification of letters Patent.llpplioation filed February 4, 1911. Serial 110.8085.

Patented Nov. 4, 1913.

view, theinvention consists in the details of construction and in thearrangement and combination of parts to be hereinafter more fully setforth and claimed.

In describing the invention in detail, reference will be had to theaccompanying drawings forming part of this specification wherein likecharacters denote correspondmg parts in the several views, and in which-Figure -1 illustrates a top-plan view of a flying machine, embodying theinvention; Fig. 2 illustrates a side elevation thereof; Fig. 3illustrates a. rear elevation view of the machine; Fi 4 illustrates asectional view onthe line of Fig. 1; Fig 5 illustrates a diagrammaticview of the controller and means of operating the front and rear planes;Fig. 6 il ustrates a sectional view on the line 6-6 of Fig. 1; Fig. 7illustrates a detail sectional view of the operators seat and itssupport and of the front and rear plane controlling wheels; and Fig. 8illustrates a top lan view of the operators seat and the bearings forthe controlling wheels.

Iii-these drawings 9 denotes a front truck and 10 a-rear truck on whicha body or car 11 -iSIIl0l1Ill78d, the said body or car being here shownas in the form of a boat or pontoon. The main frame consists of sills12, mounted on the body,-and posts 13 which extend upwardly from thesaid body and supports roof or cover 14 which is of curved formationtransverselyand of such material as to form an aeroplane or supportingsurface, the said roof having a series of transversely disposedribs 15which tend to strengthen the structure.

The posts 13 have the frames 16 connected to them, the said framesextending outwardly and inclined upwardly toward the outer edges, thesaid frames having their lowerportions covered with approximatelyimpervious material at 17. The frames are braced by the trusses 18 whichtrusses are connected to the frames 16 bymeans of the truss rods 19.Each frame 16 at its outer edge extends upwardly at an angle to the meanplane-0f the said frame 16, forming obliquely disposed planes 20 whichoffer resistance to the sidewisemovement of the machine and furthermoreprove effective in preventing descent of the machine edgewise orsidewise upon tilting of the machine; in other words, the obllquelydisposed frame tends to right the aeroplane or cause it to regain ahorizontal position. As shown in the drawings, the planes on each frame16 extend laterally from the posts 13, and it is on these lateral planesthat 'the guiding mechanism is provided. By having the guiding mechanismat the sides instead of at the ends, the proper inclination of the airship for the purpose of describing a sharp curve is attained and withoutforcing the said air ship to such an angle as would prove dangerous, thedanger being obviated not onlv by reason of the fact that the weight isbelow the plane but by the presence of the obliquely disposed plane's20, the functions of which have been stated.

The mechanism for guiding the air ship consists in the door frames 21near the tips or outer edges of the lateral planes, the said door framesbeing mounted on pivotal pins 22 which are mounted in bearings 23 on theframe 16. The door frames 21 are covered with flexible material 24,which are hereinafter to ,be termed panels, and which are secured to theframe 21 for a portion of the length of the door from the front towardthe rear thereof, but left free to move relative to the door at the rearend thereof, in order that said free ends 24' may be flexed or drawnforward or downward, so as to be acted on by the air. The door frames 21are held normally alined with the frame 16 by means 'of the springs 25which springs are anchored to the frame 16 and/bear against the doorframes 21, on each si de of the pivot 22, thus the said springs ret rnthe door to its normal position, after it has been swung on its pivot bymeans hereinafter described.

The free end 24 of the anel 24, which is hereinafter termed a rud er isengaged by springs 26, secured to the said frame 21 and tend to normallyhold the said rudder 24 in alinement with the panel 24; but it isadapted to be moved or flexed with relation to the frame of the door asshown in Fig. 6, in which position it will offer resistance to the airand retard the end of the machine containing the manipulated rudder. Theaction of air on the flexible rudder will also have a tendency to raiseor alternately depress the correspondin edge of the aeroplane and causea quiet sharp turn of the machine when in flight.

As shown in Fig. 6, the door frames 21 which carry the panels 24 may bemoved out of alinement with the frame 16 and there after the rudder 24may be moved out of alinement with the frame 21, and by this means agreater efliciency is attained and speedy and effective action results.

Attention is directed particularly to the means for fastening the sheetmaterial forming the planes to the frame, as is shown in Fig. 6, inwhich said material is applied to plane 17 between the ribs 27 and 28. I

have foundthat this arrangement affords a rigid construction which willwithstand unusual strain.

One of the door frames 21 is moved m its pivot by a cable 29, extendingthrough a guide 30 to a point within reach of the operator, and theother door frame 21 is moved on its pivot by the cable or flexibleconnection 31 operating through a guide 32. The guides 30 and 32 are.applied to the braces' 33 and 34 respectively, which extend 7 from thebody to the frame 16 to points near the outer edges thereof. From aninspection of Fig. 8, it will be seen that by pulling on either of theflexible connections 29 or 31 the respective door 21 is moved downwardlyat the rear end against the pressure of one of the springs 25 and thatupon the cessation of the pull on the flexible connection, said springs25 will return the door to its normal position.

The plane of each door frame is flexed through the medium of a ull on aflexible connection 35 which exten s through a suitable guide 18' on thetrusses 18, and terminates near the operators seat 75, so that by a pullon one of the flexible connections 35 one of the planes of the doorframe may be flexed as shown in Fig. 6, for the purpose of increasing ordiminishing the resistance to the air which resistance will result inretarding one side of the machine and at the same time tipping itslightly, thus effecting a change indirection of the machine accordingto the length oftime that the resistance is maintained. It is to beunderstood that I may employ any proper means for holding and formanipulating the said flexible connections.

As a means for sustaining the machine and for directing the flight withrespect to the altitude, the front and rear planes 36 and 37respectively are provided, the said front planes 36 being of curvedformation as shown in cross section, Fig. 4, the sheet 38 being securedbetween the ribs 40 and 39. A brace 41, is positioned on the planesubstantially centrally thereof, and is also of curved formation, and isconnected to the ribs 40 of the plane by the truss rods 42, the saidtruss rodsdifl'ering in length according to the distance between theribs and the brace, the said brace extending above the plane of the ribsat the ends of the plane and. being connected to the upper portion 43 ofan oblique plane 44, united with the plane 36. The obliquely disposedplanes serve to prevent rapid sidewise movement of the plane and aid inmaintaining the machine in horizontal position and under the contro"? ofthe operator.

The planes 36 and 37 are hinged to swing vertically in the direction oftravel of the machine, and to that end brackets 45 and 54 respectivelyextend from the sills l2 and form planes 16. The plane 36 has a pivot 46mounted in each bracket, by which the;

plane isivoted and tilt-ably mounted said brac ets. The plane 36 ispivotally 5 connected to the brackets at a point rear-' Wardly of thelongitudinal center of, the said lane from the rear to the front there-1 of, t us the rtion of the lane in front of the pivot 15 longer than tat portion of the frame in the rear thereof. The front plane, 36, isprovided with two vertically disposed arms 47 which extend above theplane 36 and two arms 47 extended below the plane 36, the said armshaving braces 48 connected to them and to the frame of the plane 36,whereby a rigid structure isits intermediate portion in engagement wit vto the frame of the machine in a manner a pulley 50 whereby rotation ofthe pulley actuates the ends of the arms to move them in oppositedirections, thereb tilting the aeroplane according to the irection anddegree of rotation of the pulley 50. One of the arms 47 and cables 40are shown in Fig. 2, and it is to be understood that these parts areduplicated on the other side of the plane 36.- v

The rear plane 37 has arms 51 and 51' similar to the arms 47 and 47 andeach arm is provided with a cable 52 and braces 53 similar in allrespect to corresponding parts utilized on the front lane and they willnot, therefore, be described in detail, except to say that the rearplane 37 is pivotally mounted on the arms 54 which are secured similarto that described in connection with the arm or bracket 45 except thatits pivotal point is located forwardly tudinal center. By ivoting t efront plane 36 to the rear of its ongitudinal center, and pivoting therear plane in front of its 1on gitudinal center, a safety device isprovided 'as follows; viz. :-Should the cord or cable 49 break, orshould the operator become faint or excited and lose control of thewheel 68; or should the ship, from any cause, suddenly start downward;the pressure of air under the planes would deflect the respective frontand rear ends of the front and rear planes upward, and thereby impart aparac iute effect to the ship; the center of gravity of the ship andoccupant being approximately midway between the pivots of said planes.The lower brackets 45 and 54 serve to limit the downward swing of theinner ends of the end planes, thus automatically stopping the movementof the planes on their pivots in one direction, and upon rapid descentof the aeroplane, the

of its longisaid,e nd planes will automatically assume an oppositelyinclined. position to produce a parachuteeflect, The cable 52 has itsintermediate portion applied to a drum or pulley 55 which is smallerthan the drum or pulley 50. The cables 52- and 49 are so wound uponthedrums as to tilt the planes oppositely when under the control of'theoperator. By providing the drum 50 of greater diameter than the drum 55,the front plane will be tilted at a greater angle than the rear plane;and by this means, while the air ship is capable of diving and risingwith great. agility, it does so without too abruptly raising andlowering the rear of the car, where the operator is seated. Thediagrammatic view, Fig. 5, will illustrate the arrangement of thepulleys and cables and will show the manner of oppositely tilting thesaid planes.

A motor 56 of any approved type may be mounted in the body 11, the saidmotor having a shaft 57' connected to the propeller shaft 58 by means ofa sprocket chain 59,

although any approved means may be provided for driving the propellershaft. The pro eller 60 is mounted on the shaft; but as t 1e propellerand the manner of driving it does not form a part of this invention, itwill not be described in detail.

As a means for manually operatin the pulleys 50 and 55, I provide thestandards 61 and 62 on the body, which standards areprovided withjournal bearings 63 and 64. A sleeve or hollow shaft 65 is jour naled inthe bearings and the pulleys 50 and 55 are secured to rotate with thesaid sleeve. The sleeve has an opening therein which is angular in crosssection designed to,'re-- ceive the handle bar 66 which corresponds thecontour of the openingin in shape to the sleeve, the handle bar beingslidable in the sleeve and being limited in its move-' ment therein bythe stop .pin 67. The handle bar is rovided with a wheel 68 for thepurpose 0 turning the said bar, and as the said bar is slidable in thesleeve, the position of the operator may be changed with respect to thestandards 61 and 62 and the handle bar may be moved in the bearings sothat the wheel 68 may be within convenient reach of the operator.

The body 11 has a runway 69 therein provided with a rack 70, which rackengages a gear wheel 71 mounted in a bracket 72 which is secured to theseat board 73, the said seat board being movable longitudinally of thebody. under the influence of the gear wheel 71 which engages the rack70. The shaft 71, on which the wheel 71 is mounted, is provided with anoperating handle 74 by which said gear wheel is turned for the purposeof causing the travel of the gear wheel, along the rack. An operatorsseat 7 5 is establhed onthe seat board and by the movement of the seatboard, the position of the operator with relation to the standards 61and 62 will be controlled. Thus if a passenger is to be taken and it isdesired to shift the position of the operator to equalize the weight ofthe passenger and the weight of the operator, the operators seat may bemoved to proper position" and the handle bar may be moved in the sleevesothat the operating wheel 68 is. within convenient reach of theoperator; and the purpose of the movable seat for the operator is topermit him to readily change his position toward the front or rear ofthe car, as the shifting of his weight will be of material assistance incontrolling the flight of the air ship.

I claim- 1. In a flying machine, an aeroplane having a curved frame, acurved brace extending below portions of the frame and havmeans forholding the said flexible planes in mg its ends connected to the frameat the edges thereof, rods connecting the frame and braces, doubleribs-held by the frame and a. plane secured between the ribs.

2. In a flying machine, a frame, laterally disposed planes, doorspivotally mounted in the planes, a flexible plane comprising a portionof each door, means for flexing the said flexible planes of the doorsand alinement with the doors.

3. In-a flying machine, a frame, laterally disposed planes pivotallysupported by the frame, each of said planes having an opening therein, adoor frame supported in each of the planes, a panel on each frame, eachof the panels having a flexible end portion, means for moving the doorframes, and means for operating the flexible end portions.

4. In a flying machine, a frame, laterally disposed plane's, arectangular opening in each of said planes, door frames pivotallymounted intermediate their len he in said planes, a panel on each ofsaid rames, each of the panels having a flexible end portion,

means for operating the flexible end porbeing rearwardly of thelongitudinal center thereof, the axis of the other of the secondmentioned planes ,being forwardly of the longitudinal center, means forconnecting the second mentioned planes whereby the movement of one planewill be communicated to the other plane, and means independent of theplane actuating mechanism for limiting the swinging movement of theplanes.

6. In a flying machine, a plane, a steering plane forwardly of the firstmentioned plane, a second steering plane rearwardly of the firstmentioned plane, means for pivotally mounting the second mentioned planerearwardly of its longitudinal center, means for mounting the thirdmentioned plane horizontally forwardly of its longitudinal center, meanswhereby the movement of one steering plane is communicated to the othersteering plane, and means independent of the plane actuating mechanismfor limiting the swinging movement of the planes.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto affix my signature in the presence oftwo witnesses.

JOHN .C. SCHLEICHER.

Witnesses:

LATIIE E. BARKLEY, HELEN N. RAMSEY.

